Need for improved sample inactivation and extraction methods to support systems biology analysis of biological threat organisms

摘要

Biological threat agents (BTAs), when considered as samples for detailed molecular analysis, present the unique risk of hazardous infectivity during collection and processing. Although traditional chemical and physical methods of biological inactivation are useful for the purpose of decontamination, these approaches are not suitable for the pretreatment of sample material that is intended for inspection by detailed analytical methods, such as those employed in systems biology. Most notably, inactivation by oxidizers, crosslinking agents, pressurized steam or irradiation can substantially modify or destroy covalent bond structure and irretrievably change biological molecules, thereby diminishing the utility of their study by sophisticated instrumentation and methodology, including mass spectrometry. Importantly, new approaches should support a growing need to safely transfer an analytical sample outside of the biological containment environment or to ship material from remote locations, preferably without cold chain custody. Beyond agent inactivation, a more universal method for molecular extraction would better support multiplex analyses and leverage the use of limited sample.